Gay & Lesbian Center, Hit by Budget Woes, Cuts 60 Jobs
Leaders of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center--caught in an escalating controversy over competing AIDS fund-raiser bicycle rides--fired 60 employees Friday as part of a far-reaching reorganization.
Operators of the 30-year-old Hollywood center said they face a $4.5-million budget shortfall, caused primarily by costs and confusion created by the launch of this May’s San Francisco-to-Los Angeles AIDS/LifeCycle bike ride.
Among the victims of the reorganization was center Director Gwenn A. Baldwin. She will step down after the AIDS ride.
“We’re devastated and sad,” said Bonnie Osborn, a spokeswoman for the center, which calls itself the world’s largest gay organization. She said the layoffs affect about 20% of the organization’s staff.
The cutbacks include elimination of the center’s primary-care medical program, which served about 2,300 people. “We’re exploring ways to help these patients get served,” Osborn said.
Officials of the center blamed a “combination of factors” for their budget problems, including the recession and the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the biggest factor was the center’s decision last fall to sever its long-standing ties with California AIDS Ride and create a rival fund-raiser, AIDS/LifeCycle.
The center said that last year’s California AIDS Ride, run by the Los Angeles-based promotions company Pallotta Teamworks, suffered unexpected cost overruns that cut into the event’s profits.
Center leaders joined with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to create AIDS/LifeCycle and announced its first ride would be held May 13-19. Pallotta, which had scheduled its ride for June 2-8, unsuccessfully sued to block AIDS/LifeCycle.
Osborn said the center spent $600,000 fighting the lawsuit. She blamed negative publicity over the dispute for scaring off potential AIDS/LifeCycle riders--who would have been expected to raise about $3,800 each for the center and foundation.
“We’re $3.4 million below budget for AIDS/LifeCycle. We have a lot of fixed costs for a first-year event. It’s not going to make nearly as much money as we anticipated,” Osborn said.
Baldwin, who said she is stepping down voluntarily, defended the decision to start a rival bike-ride fund-raiser. She stressed that the center intends to continue providing AIDS and HIV medical services to about 2,000 patients. Officials at Pallotta Teamworks, who are reportedly also struggling to recruit riders for their AIDS ride, were unavailable for comment Friday. But others in the AIDS and gay communities said they were not surprised by the cutbacks.
“I was flabbergasted by their decision to have two rides. That was a recipe for disaster,” said Michael Weinstein, head of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which assists AIDS patients.
“They almost guaranteed themselves financial problems.... A mass layoff is bad for any institution. For the premier gay and lesbian organization in the country, it sends a message of weakness.”
But Gay & Lesbian Center leaders defended the cuts as necessary to maintain “a solid foundation” for the future. Its annual budget had been $36 million.
“The center leadership is making these changes so that important programs will continue for our community now and in the future,” said Eric M. Shore, co-chairman of the group’s board, in a statement.
